1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to semiconductor packages and methods of manufacturing the same, and, more particularly, to a stacked semiconductor package-on-package (PoP) configuration and method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
With an increased demand for smaller and lighter electronic products with more functionalities and higher performance, semiconductor package structures continue to become thinner and ever more miniaturized. These increasing demands for miniaturization, more functionalities and higher performance result in more compact designs and a significant increase in integrated circuit (IC) density and performance. Although new techniques, such as surface mount technology (SMT), are developed to increase semiconductor chip density on a single substrate, IC density continues to be limited by the space available for mounting chips on a substrate.
One way to further increase IC density is to stack semiconductor chips vertically. Multiple stacked chips can be combined into a single package in this manner with a small surface area on a printed circuit board or other substrate. This solution of stacking IC components vertically also has been extended to the stacking of entire packages upon each other. Such PoP configuration continues to become increasingly popular as the semiconductor industry continues to demand semiconductor devices with lower costs, higher performance, increased miniaturization, and greater packaging densities.
A key challenge in a PoP configuration is how to align and stack a package on another package precisely while maintaining workable electrical connections therebetween. Solder joints used to electrically connect one package to another may shift, become fractured, or overflow during a molding process in the stacking and which leads to problems such as disconnection or short circuit.
Thus, a need still remains for a semiconductor package including a PoP configuration when incorporating existing and increasingly complex IC and package configurations, and continuing substantial improvements in PoP solutions are thus needed.